A Jew's view from the capital of Israel and the future site of the Third Temple, may it speedily be rebuilt.

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Sunday, November 09, 2008

The Obama Nation Outlaws Abomination

Israel National News reports that the voters in the states of California, Florida, and Arizona did the right thing:

While many Americans celebrated the victory of liberal-Democrat Barack Obama, other more conservative voices had something to celebrate as well. California, a state considered a bastion of liberalism, passed a ballot measure banning homosexual marriage. The measure, also known as "Proposition 8", calls for an amendment to the state constitution which will now read: "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Florida and Arizona passed similar bans on Tuesday. Also, in Arkansas a measure was passed that was intended to bar gay men and lesbians from adopting children. In all, thirty states have now passed bans on same-sex marriage.

Elated by the rejection of gay marriage in state elections, conservatives Wednesday urged Congress to follow suit by approving a federal constitutional amendment that would extend the prohibition nationwide. In February, President George W. Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage saying: "I believe marriage has served society well, and I believe it is important to affirm that — that marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal, and the job of the president is to drive policy toward the ideal."

"After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes" (Leviticus 18:3). The Rambam (Laws of Forbidden Relations ch. 21) considers such marriages among the "doings of the land of Egypt". Prop 8 is great!

That is a religious reason for not participating in homosexual relations. It is not a reason for the government to tell citizens of a country that is not supposed to legislate religion what to do, based on religious reasoning.

It would seem that you define marriage as a religious institution - in that case, the US government has no business being involved in any kind of marriage at all.

On the other hand laws can and should be based on moral principles. I think that everybody can agree with that. The question is: Do moral principles from the Torah supersede any man-made moral system? The answer is yes! The Torah dictates is what God desires. The morality of the Torah is eternal and not a passing Hollywood fad.

Whats more, when the laws of the State of California declare the obvious, that "marriage" is a legal union between a man and a woman, and other types of union are not "marriage", this is nothing less than a redemption of the truth! Prop 8 is great!

I don't agree that law should be based primarily on moral principles. Laws function in order to maintain order in society (e.g. no murder) and to allow society to continue to exist (e.g. taxes).

Furthermore, if marriage is something defined in the Torah, that has no real bearing on order in society or its continued existence - then the laws of the State of California have no business having any opinion on marriage. Marriage in secular state is a simple contract that binds in it many other contracts between two people, that provides them with many benefits - the state should not be in the business of defining the type of contracts people enter into - especially when the contract harms neither of them (in this world - the state is not the business of saving people's souls).